Virginia Code 62.1-44.19: Approval of sewerage systems and sewage treatment works
A. Before any owner may erect, construct, open, expand or operate a sewerage system or sewage treatment works which will have a potential discharge or actual discharge to state waters, such owner shall file with the Board an application for a certificate in scope and detail satisfactory to the Board.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 62.1-44.19
- Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
- Board: means the State Water Control Board. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
- Certificate: means any certificate issued by the Department. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
- City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
- Department: means the Department of Environmental Quality. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
- Owner: means the Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions, including but not limited to sanitation district commissions and authorities and any public or private institution, corporation, association, firm, or company organized or existing under the laws of this or any other state or country, or any officer or agency of the United States, or any person or group of persons acting individually or as a group that owns, operates, charters, rents, or otherwise exercises control over or is responsible for any actual or potential discharge of sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes to state waters, or any facility or operation that has the capability to alter the physical, chemical, or biological properties of state waters in contravention of § 62. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
- Sewage: means the water-carried human wastes from residences, buildings, industrial establishments or other places together with such industrial wastes and underground, surface, storm, or other water as may be present. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
- Sewerage system: means pipelines or conduits, pumping stations, and force mains, and all other construction, devices, and appliances appurtenant thereto, used for conducting sewage or industrial wastes or other wastes to a point of ultimate disposal. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
- Special order: means a special order issued under subdivisions (8a), (8b), and (8c) of § 62. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
- Standards: means standards established under subdivisions (3a) and (3b) of § 62. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- State waters: means all water, on the surface and under the ground, wholly or partially within or bordering the Commonwealth or within its jurisdiction, including wetlands. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
- treatment works: means any device or system used in the storage, treatment, disposal, or reclamation of sewage or combinations of sewage and industrial wastes, including but not limited to pumping, power, and other equipment, and appurtenances, and any works, including land, that are or will be (i) an integral part of the treatment process or (ii) used for the ultimate disposal of residues or effluent resulting from such treatment. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
B. If the application involves a system or works from which there is or is to be a discharge to state waters, the application shall be given public notice by publication once a week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or city where the certificate is applied for or by such other means as the Board may prescribe. Before issuing the certificate, the Board shall consult with and give consideration to the written recommendations of the State Department of Health pertaining to the protection of public health. Upon completion of advertising, the Board shall determine if the application is complete, and if so, shall act upon it within 21 days of such determination. The Board shall approve such application if it determines that minimum treatment requirements will be met and that the discharge will not result in violations of water quality standards. If the Board disapproves the application, it shall state what modifications or changes, if any, will be required for approval.
C. After the certificate has been issued or amended by the Board, the owner shall acquire from the Department of Environmental Quality (i) authorization to construct the systems or works for which the Board has issued a discharge certificate and (ii) upon completion of construction, authorization to operate the sewerage system or sewage treatment works. These authorizations shall be obtained in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Board.
D. Any owner operating under a valid certificate issued by the Board who fails to meet water quality standards established by the Board solely as a result of a change in water quality standards or in the law shall provide the necessary facilities approved by the Department of Environmental Quality, in accordance with the provisions of subsection C of this section, within a reasonable time to meet such new requirements. The Board may amend such certificate, or revoke it and issue a new one to reflect such facilities after proper hearing, with at least 30 days’ notice to the owner of the time, place and purpose thereof. If such revocation or amendment of a certificate is mutually agreeable to the Board and the owner involved, the hearing and notice may be dispensed with.
E. The Board shall revoke the certificate in case of a failure to comply with all such requirements and may issue a special order under subdivisions (8a), (8b), and (8c) of § 62.1-44.15.
Code 1950, § 62.1-33; 1968, c. 659; 1970, c. 638; 1976, c. 661; 1991, c. 194; 2003, c. 614.